The present disclosure relates to a vehicle seat, in particular a vehicle seat having a frame that includes a plurality of members which are at least partly connected to one another. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a process for producing the vehicle seat.
The majority of vehicle seats currently mass-produced are formed using structural elements of steel with a wide variety of profiles. However, vehicle seats having a lightweight construction using different materials, are also known. Vehicle seat frames of this type are disclosed, for example, in DE 10 2004 044 734, DE 697 02 023 T2 and DE 198 26 732 A1. However, frames constructed from lightweight materials have unique connections and are produced in a smaller quantity than steel frames and are therefore more expensive to make.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a vehicle seat which can also be made available in a lightweight construction at low cost.
The seat frame includes a plurality of members which are at least partly connected to one another by an attachment method, such as welding, soldering, positively or nonpositively or by adhesive bonding, or the like. At least one member is available in a plurality of materials and the shape of the member is configured such that it remains unchanged irrespective of the material used to form the member. In each connection region of adjoining members which bear the main load, the connection includes at least, two, or more connecting portions.
An advantage of the present disclosure is that the vehicle seat can be located in any desired arrangement in the respective motor vehicle. The seat can accordingly be a front seat or a back seat. The seat may provide space for one or more people. The seat may also be a bench.
Another advantage of the present disclosure is that at least one of these frame members is produced from a lightweight material, for example aluminum or an aluminum alloy. The frame member may be designed differently for different types of connection. For example, a frame member may have a slightly different edge contour depending on whether it is adhesively bonded or welded to the other member.
Still another advantage of the present disclosure is that certain members, for example in a steel construction, may be able to be replaced by a member formed using a lightweight material, without it being necessary to change the adjoining frame members. Still a further advantage of the present disclosure is that a member may be designed differently depending on the way in which it is connected to an adjoining member. This makes it possible to utilize various seat configurations on a vehicle platform using one structural design. Therefore both a “low cost variant” consisting of steel and a “high end variant” comprising a hybrid structure may be used. In addition, different connection variations can be used. In the hybrid variant, steel members may be joined with members which are not produced from steel, for example lightweight material, for example plastic, aluminum and/or an aluminum alloy or a combination thereof. A further advantage of the present disclosure is that the seat frame can be produced by using virtually the same production equipment in terms of welding robots/plants and apparatuses.
According to the disclosure, at least one cross member and the side member are connected to one another in a connection region. An example of a connection is laser welding, laser hybrid welding, laser brazing/soldering, hybrid soldering and/or adhesive bonding.
Another example of a connection is a positive and/or nonpositive fit, such as riveting, belling, clinching (toxing), flanging and/or screwing or the like.
Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood after reading the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.